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Zuiko
Zuiko is the name of the camera lenses made by Olympus, from the first one, mounted in 1936 on the Semi Olympus, to the present day. All Olympus cameras use lenses made by the company, but the word 'Zuiko' is not mentioned on some of the cheaper point and shoot compact models. Zuiko name Zuikō is written 瑞光 in Japanese and can be translated as "auspicious optics" or "auspicious light". The name was adopted after a contest open to the company employees, Maitani, "Kamera-zukuri he no bōken"; Sakai, p.7 of no.20; Francesch, p.19. being a contraction of the first characters of "Mizuho Kōgaku Kenkyūjo" (瑞穂光学研究所, meaning Mizuho Optical Research Institute), name of a branch of Takachiho Seisakusho (the later Olympus) founded to develop the camera lens. Letter code Where a lens is denominated with a letter before the Zuiko name (e.g. D.Zuiko or F.Zuiko) it represents the number of optical elements in the lens. The letter's placing in the alphabet corresponds to the number of elements present — so a D.Zuiko lens has 4 elements, and a F.Zuiko has 6. Olympus began to phase out these letter designations when introducing new products in the early 1980s (e.g. the XA-3 and XA-4). Numbering of early Zuiko lenses Early Zuiko lenses were numbered in a single sequence, starting at 1000 or 1001 with the 75mm f/4.5 lens of the Semi Olympus. There were a few jumps in the sequence, which was notably reset at 20000 when production was started again after 1945. The original sequence went well past 120000, and further batches were started, e.g. at 300000 (for the Olympus Chrome Six III) and 370000 (for the Elmoflex). All these numbers were engraved with a No. prefix. In 1953, the common sequence was dropped, and each lens type received its own number sequence, distinguished by the absence of the No. prefix. The lenses mounted on Olympus products had their numbers reset at 100000, and those sold to other camera manufacturers had higher batch numbers, e.g. starting at 400000 for the Elmoflex III-F. Some lenses mounted on Olympus cameras, such as the Zuiko F.C. 7.5cm f/3.5 of the Olympus Chrome Six III, successively received the two numbering schemes. This apparently caused some confusion to customers who feared that the new lenses — without No. prefix and with a serial number reset at 100001 — were fake. The Olympus company placed an advertisement in the November 1953 issues of and to explain the matter. Advertisement in November 1953, p.157. Zuiko interchangeable lenses * OM series: see Olympus OM lenses * M42 (FTL) series: see 42mm screw lenses * Pen F series: see Olympus Pen F lenses * Ace series: see Olympus Ace * Exakta lens: see Zuiko 4cm f/3.5 for Exakta * Leica screw lens: see Zuiko 4cm f/2.8 for Leica * Olympus Standard lenses: see Olympus Standard * Zuiko Digital series for the Four-Thirds system: see Four-Thirds lenses Zuiko for other companies The Zuiko lenses were also mounted on some cameras made by other Japanese companies: * Airesflex by Aires * Elmoflex by Elmo * Mamiya Six by Mamiya * Wagoflex by Walz * Wester Chrome Six R by Nishida * perhaps some Semi Minolta III by Chiyoda Kogaku List of Zuiko lenses 13.5×18mm lenses A range of 'Zuiko Digital'-branded lenses developed for the Four-Thirds digital SLR system. See Four-Thirds lenses for further details. 18×24mm lenses A range of interchangeable SLR lenses for the half-frame Pen F system — see Olympus Pen F lenses for further details. 24×36mm lenses A single lens was made in Leica screw mount; see Zuiko 4cm f/2.8 for Leica. Other Zuiko lenses may have been remounted for Leica by third-party workshops (see the high-aperture lenses below). HPR, p.410, also mentions a Zuiko 90/4 and a Zuiko 135/3.5, both with a question mark. The existence of these lenses is dubious. A single lens was made in Exakta mount; see Zuiko 4cm f/3.5 for Exakta. A small range of interchangeable lenses in 42mm screw mount was developed for the Olympus FTL; see 42mm screw lenses for further details. A large range of interchangeable lenses for the 35mm OM system was developed over a period of thirty years; see Olympus OM lenses for further details. 4×4cm lenses * 60/2.8 Olympus D.Zuiko, 4 elements, taking and viewing lens of the f/2.8 Eye 44 * 60/3.5, taking and viewing lens of the f/3.5 Eye 44 4×5cm lenses Interchangeable lenses of the Olympus Standard: see Olympus Standard. 4.5×6cm and 6×6cm lenses The first prototype lenses made by Takachiho in 1936 include the 75/4.5 mounted on the Semi Olympus, a 105/4.5 for 6.5×9cm format (listed below), and perhaps a 75/3.5. The 75/3.5 is only mentioned in Sakai, p.7 of no.20. Table of Zuiko 75mm and 7.5cm medium-format lenses (the "lowest" and "highest" numbers correspond to the serial numbers actually observed): }} 6.5×9cm lens * 105/4.5, four elements in three groups, first prototype lens made by Takachiho, intended for 6.5×9cm plate cameras Hagiya, p.13 of no.20. High-aperture lenses Three high-aperture lenses were developed from 1936–7, using Japanese optical glass, after a request from the Japanese government: Sakai, p.7 of no.20. "Orinpasu kamera shisakuki 2-shu", p.59 of the same magazine. Japanese optical glass: Sakurai Eiichi, p.67 of the same magazine. * Zuiko f/2.7, five elements in three groups * Falcon f/2, six elements in four groups * Olympar f/1.5, six elements in five groups It seems that the projects were first designed with a focal length of 50mm, then a 65mm version of the Zuiko f/2.7 and Falcon f/2 was planned for the Olympus Standard. "Orinpasu kamera shisakuki 2-shu", p.59 of no.20. The Zuiko 65/2.7 and Falcon 65/2 appear in an advertisement for the Olympus Standard dated August 1937, reproduced in , p.62. It is unclear if any of these lenses were actually made. Sakurai, p.67 of no.20, seems to imply that they were not. The Olympar f/1.5 design later evolved as the Zuiko 50/1.5, which was produced in small quantities and sold to Shimazu Seisakusho for X-ray cameras made around 1940. Sakurai Eiichi, p.67 of no.20. It seems that some of these lenses appeared on the market after the war in Leica screw mount, perhaps sold by Shimazu as surplus. Sakurai and Saeki, p.67 of no.20. HPR, p.410, mentions the Zuiko 50/1.5 in Leica screw mount, and also mentions a 50/1.1, certainly a confusion. Aerial lenses * 200/4.5, four elements, three groups, marked ZUIKO 1:4.5 f=200mm Takatiho NO.xxxx: ** as a barrel lens, for an unknown military application Examples pictured in "Orinpasu renzu hoi", p.81 of no.20, and observed for sale at a dealer and in an online auction. ** with bayonet mount, for the Type 100 Small Aerial Camera (SK-100, 100式小航空写真機) Example observed for sale at a dealer. * 250/4.5, four elements, three groups, for an Automatic Aerial Camera (自動航空写真機) Mentioned in "Orinpasu renzu hoi", p.81 of no.20. * 400/5.6, four elements, four groups, for the Type 100 Small Aerial Camera (SK-100, 100式小航空写真機) Enlarging lenses * 50/4.5 enlarging lens, sold ¥60 in 1941, Advertisement dated 1941, reproduced in Nostalgic Camera by Toshio Inamura. * 50/3.5 enlarging lens, marked Olympus Zuiko C. 1:3.5 f=5cm No.xxxxxx Example pictured in this page at Red Book Nikkor (lens no.139597). * 75/4.5 enlarging lens, four elements, three groups, marked Olympus Zuiko C. 1:4,5 f=7,5cm xxxxxx "Orinpasu renzu hoi", p.81 of no.20. The example pictured has no.104603. * 75/3.5 enlarging lens, four elements, three groups Notes Bibliography * . Advertisement by Olympus Kōgaku Kōgyō in November 1953, p.157. * * Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Orinpasu kamera no subete 1: supuringu kamera " (オリンパスカメラのすべて1・スプリングカメラ戦前編, "All of Olympus cameras 1: folding cameras prewar"). Pp.13–5. * HPR. Leica Copies. London: Classic Collection Publications, 1994. ISBN 1-874485-05-4. P.410. * Maitani Yoshihisa (米谷美久). "Kamera-zukuri he no bōken" (カメラ創りへの冒険, "Venturing into camera production"). Volume 1 of [http://www.olympus-zuiko.com/dev_spirits/index.html Haikei — Sekkeisha yori] (拝啓・設計者より, "Dear Sir, from the designer"). Published in the Zuiko Club website, belonging to the Olympus Imaging Corp. * "Orinpasu kamera shisakuki 2-shu" (オリンパスカメラ試作機2種, "Two experimental Olympus cameras"). Anonymous column about the Olympus Standard and Olympus Eye Flex. P.59. * "Orinpasu renzu hoi" (オリンパスレンズ補遺, "Olympus lens appendix"). Anonymous column about various Zuiko lenses. P.81. * Sakai Shūichi (酒井修一). "Orinpasu no rekishi" (オリンパスの歴史, "History of Olympus"). Pp.6–9. * . Advertisement by Olympus Kōgaku Kōgyō in November 1953, p.341. * "Zadankai: Orinpasu no michi" (座談会・オリンパスの道, "Conversation: the way of Olympus"). Interview of Sakurai Eiichi (桜井栄一), Maitani Yoshihisa (米谷美久) and Kawazoe Mitsuo (河添光男), by Saeki Kakugorō (佐伯恪五郎). Pp.64–71. Links In Japanese: * Advertisement for the Zuiko 50/4.5 enlarging lens published in 1941, reproduced in Nostalgic Camera, a page by Toshio Inamura * September 2008 meeting report of the Nikon Kenkyukai (English version) at Akiyama Michio's Red Book Nikkor, showing a Zuiko C. 50mm f/3.5 enlarging lens Category: Olympus Category: Japanese lenses Category: 1936